Canopy for draft-animals.



CANOPY FOR DRAFT ANIMALS.

' Patented May 2 2s B'I HE S-SHEBT 1.

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D. J. GONDON.

CANOPY FOB. DRAFT ANIMALS.

PILIOAT ION FILED AUG. 19, 190B.

Patented May 25, 1909.

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THE nomus nuns col, wnsnmcruu n c TES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID JOSEPH CONDON, OF GOODLAND, INDIANA.

CANOPY FOR DRAFT-ANIMALS.

To all ivliom it men concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID JOSEPH CONDON,

a cit-izenofthe United States, residing at Goodland, in the county of Newton and State of Indiana, have Invented a new and 'usefulCa-nopy for Draft-Animals, of which I thefollowing is a specification.

A canopy for draft animals should be in- I expensive in construction, facile in operation and devoid of'complicated parts; it should be capable of manipulation at the drivers handswithout necessitating his leaving the "minimum eifortyandthese ends are sought to be effected by my invention.

lVith these and otherobjects in view, as

will hereinafter more fully appear, the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, delineated in the accompanying drawing and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being'understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size and minordetails of thestruct-ure may 4 be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its benefits.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the draw- .ings." I

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1 shows my invention, in perspective, mounted upon the front of afve'hicle; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, parts being broken away; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, showing, in detail, the toggle levers, their locked position being shown in solid line, and their unlockedposition in dotted line; Fig. 4: is a detail' perspective, showing the means whereby the lazy-tongs is slidably mounted upon the supporting member.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a frame depending upon the lever principle as embodied in the form commonly known as the :lazy-tongs. This frame in its preferred form, consists of the vertically disposed, horizontally extensible lazy-tongs 8, for lightness made to taper toward their movable end, as shown in Fig. 2. The lazytongs 8 carry the tie-rods 3, upon which are I mounted the slats 32, trussed into an up- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 19, 1908.

Patented May 25, 1909.

Serial No. 449,340.

wardly convexing curve by the tie-rods 3. The slats may be of greater length than the tie-rods 3 and the canopy cloth 2 which is carried by the slats 32 thereby extended beyond the lazy-tongs 8 to any desired degree, the upwardly convexed curve assumed by the tie-rods 32 serving so to dispose the canopy-cloth 2 as to form a watershed. I further provide a standard 4 adapted to carry one end of the lazy-tongs 8. The standard 4 has its lower end attached to the front of a vehicle and may, if desired, be braced or otherwise secured in position. The standard a may be variously formed; in practice, I prefer to provide a tubular socket 5 within which is rotatably mounted'a rod (5, a set screw 19 and a collar 1 slidably mounted upon the rod 6, furnishing means for ad j usting vertically the rod 6 in the socket 5. A frame 7 preferably rectangular, is carried by the rod 6 and may be formed integral therewith.

The terminal upper connections 9 between members of the lazy-tongs are rigidly attached to the uprights 10 of the rectangular frame 7 and the corresponding, terminal lower connections 11 between members of the lazy-tongs, are slidably carried by the uprights 10, the terminal upper members 12 being prolonged to form the operating levers 20.

The sliding connection between the ter minal lower connections 11 and the uprights 10 may be variously effected; I prefer, however, to attach to the inner sides of the uprights 10, the guides 21, through which may be passed, the terminal lower member 22 of the lazy-tongs 8.- The members 23 which unite with the terminal lower members 22 to form the terminal lower connections 11, may have their lower ends prolonged and bent outward to form feet 24, fulcrumed against the uprights 10 under the weight of the lazy-tongs 8 and their superposed members.

Pivotally mounted upon the vehicle tongue 25 is the strut adapted to support the movable end of the lazytongs 8 when the said lazy-tongs are extended. The strut 15 may comprise the tube 17, hinged to the tongue by any simple means, such as the one shown 26. Mounted in the tube and slidably adjustable therein, is the canopy support 18, each of its bifurcations 27 pivotally connected to one of the lazy-tongs 8, as shown at 28.

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Slidably mounted upon the canopy sup port 18 is the collar 29, retained by the set screw 30. Attached to the lower end of the collar 2.) is the spring 31, contacting with the top of the tube 17 and bearing yielding the canopy support 18.

The toggle levers 13 are shown in detail in Fig. 3. These members have their rear ends attached to the uprights 10, as shown at 14, their forward ends being pivoted to the lazy-tongs 8, as shown at The levers are pivotally united, as shown at 34k, and when the lazy-tongs is extended the toggle levers may be forced down into locking position, shown in solid line in Fig. 3, maintaining the lazy-tongs frame in an extended position. The toggle-levers may be upstruck from their locked position to the unlocked position, shown in dotted line in Fig. 3, whereupon the lazy-tongs may be retracted toward the supporting members and into the position indicated in dotted line in F 3.

In operation, when, as shown in the accompanying drawing, the canopy is extended, the toggle-levers 13 are forced upward into an unlocked position, manual pressure is applied to the levers 20, the terminal lower members 32 moved downward within the guides 21 and the lazy-tongs 8 closed together, bringing the canopy cloth 2 together in a compact mass near the front of the vehicle. The tube 17 will hinge toward the wagon upon the union 26 and the canopy support 18, being pivotally connected at 28 with the lazy-tongs S, will be carried rearward toward the wagon, the slidable connection between the canopy support 18 and the tube 17 permitting the former to be drawn out from the latter.

WVhen it is desired to extend the canopy over the draft animals, the lever 20 is manipulated forcing the lower terminal member 22 upward within the guards 21, extending the lazy-tongs 8. The canopy support 18 will be moved forward by the lazy-tongs S and telescoped into the tube 17 which will assume an upright position, the spring 31 yieldingly upholding the canopy support 18. The toggle-levers 13 are then shoved downwardly into the locked position shown in the drawing, holding the canopy extended.

The rod (5 being rotatable in the socket 5, the lazy-tongs S will follow the lateral movements of the tongue 25, the spring 31 absorbing the vertical movements of the tongue.

Having thus described my invention, my claims are as follows 1. In a device of the class described, a horizontally extensible lazytongs frame; means for attaching one end of the lazytongs frame to the front of a vehicle; a tube arranged to be hinged to the tongue of a vehicle; a canopy-support pivotally connected with the lazy-tongs frame, and having its lower terminal mounted in the tube and slidably adjustable therein.

In a device of the class described, a horizontally extensible lazy-tongs frame; means for attaching one end of the lazytongs frame to the front of avehicle; atube arranged to be hinged to the tongue of avehicle; a canopy-support pivotally connected with the lazy-tongs frame, and having its lower terminal mounted in the tube and yieldingly supported therein.

In a device of the class described, a rectangular frame; a pair of vertically disposed, horizontally extensible lazy-tongs carried by the uprights of the rectangular frame; toggle levers terminally connected with the uprights of the rectangular frame and the lazy-tongs.

1. In a device of the class described, a rectangular frame; a vertically disposed, horizontally adjustable lazy-tongs mechanism having its terminal, upper connection bet-ween two of its members rigidly attached to one of the uprights of the rectangular frame, the corresponding terminal, lower connection, being slidably mounted upon the upright, the forward element of said lower connection being terminally bent to form a frame-engaging foot; a guide mounted upon the upright and being arranged to inclose the rearward element of the terminal, lower connection; and the terminal, upper member of the lazy-tongs being prolonged to form an operating lever.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID JOSEPH CONDON.

Witnesses An EUR J. Srmxny, RUFUS H. Ross. 

